The present invention relates to data processing, and more particularly, to change management in product creation processes.
An important factor in the success of businesses in the current era is the ability to flexibly react to the requirements of the market. Shorter product cycles require decreased product development times and quicker introduction to market while increased customer demands for individual solutions increases the number of variants.
Changes to initial product designs can occur at many points during the product development process. These changes are usually handled through a change management or engineering change management process. Changes can result from improved technology, changes to consumer demand, changes due to quality problems and/or changes to materials and components needed for manufacturing. Change management can be used to control changes to products, including assemblies and sub-assemblies, components and parts, raw materials, processes and sub-processes, product information and process information.
Requests for change can be transmitted from different entities in the product creation process. The different entities involved in the product creation system can include internal and external entities. For example, internal entities can include design, purchasing, marketing and sales, manufacturing, installation, customer service, and technical services. External entities can include existing and potential customers, dealers, distributors, suppliers, vendors, and regulatory organizations. The requests can be evaluated for consistency, dependence and validity. If the change is successfully evaluated, activities associated with the change and the resulting consequences can be documented, and notification of the change is sent to the various entities in the product creation process.